Blog Post

Before the days of Netflix, Sky television or even channel five, there was the great outdoors, and outdoor childhood games. Hours of fun and hundreds of games. No child of yesteryear would have dreamed of “staying in” for fear of being known as the recluse “weirdo”.

Come with GlasgowLiving as we take a walk down memory lane, do you remember these 16 games that shaped your childhood in Glasgow?

16. Chappie / Chap Door Runaway

Pretty straight forward. You would spend the evening chapping doors and running away, sometimes if you were feeling particularly boisterous you wouldn’t inform your group of friends of your intentions until you had chapped the door. As the night went on there became a very real possibility that one of the crazy neighbours (you know the ones) would be out hunting you and your friends. At that point the game was abandoned and you ran “hame”.

15. Garden Runs/Grand National

Again very self explanatory, someone would be dared to a front garden run or a dreaded back garden run. Most involved jumping through a hedge or avoiding a 13 stone devil dog. Neighbours sick of having adolescents giggling uncontrollably while repeatedly galloping through their garden, would smear vandal grease of the top of the fence. A vandal grease stain on your clothes was disastrous and was a surefire way to see yourself grounded.

14. Kick The Can

Less a game more of a torture method. The rules can vary depending on school or area, but this particular version would involve leaving a can in the corridor and waiting for a smaller child to walk through the corridor. Upon kicking the can the smaller child would receive a light roughing up. Deedies and kicks were acceptable, headbutts and six foot elbow drops were frowned upon.

13. Kerby

An absolute classic, two players and the first to 21, Kerby would involve a player trying to strike a ball off the other opponents kerb. If you succeeded you moved to the middle and would continue until you missed the kerb, but be warned if your opponent hit you with the ball on your return to the kerb, they would be awarded five points. Ten points if you had the audacity to throw the ball over an oncoming car.

12. Dead Mans Fall

Pretty dark game content. Would take place on the nearest hill to your house. You would take turns being killed by the person who was ‘het’. They would ask you how you wish to be killed and you answered grenade/machine gun/throwing knife etc and proceed to fake your own murder in the most elaborate stage death imaginable. The best judged death would be the next person ‘het’, and the game would continue.

11. Headey Handball / Heedey 2

Two person and a football. Permitted with two touches each shot, you were forbidden to touch the ball or save the ball with your hands. If you handled it the opposition player would be allowed into the middle for a penalty. Golden rule was no blasters, it would make too much noise against the lockups and you would get chased away by irate ‘lockup’ owners.

10. Catchy / Lifey / Records / Sevens / Cuppie

Somebody goes in goals, preferably an actual goal or high walls. (Jackets as posts causes arguments, too high, over, post, are all debatable.) Lifey you have 10 lives, keeper gets 11, the aim of the game is to score goals into the keeper on volley or half volley and get their lives to zero. But if they catch the ball you’re in goals, hit it wide/over, you’re in. Handle it, a yellow card, handle it twice, penalty. First person devoid of lives can be given doggy life. Records is the same, goals conceded equal records.

Cuppie or Cuppie Doubles would be played as a round robin, type style of tournament, the winner of said tournament would be a god for the afternoon.

9. Heads Down, Thumbs Up

Usually played in classrooms on account of there needing to be plenty of participants. Teacher would shout right class for the last ten minutes we’ll play Heads Down Thumbs Up. Everyone in the class would put their head on the table, teacher would pick out a few people to be thumb pushers. If your thumbs were touched by the thumpushers you then held them in your fist. If you guessed who pushed your thumb at the end you then got to be thumb pusher. A truly thrilling end to any primary school day.

8. What’s The Time Mr Wolf

Played with at least three people, one person would play as the wolf, you would ask the wolf, “what’s the time Mr Wolf”. The wolf would answer with 2/3/4/5 o’clock and you would have to take the concurrent steps toward them, you would ask again and if he shouted Dinner Time, you would have to run away, but get caught and you became wolf.

7. Red Light, Green Light

Imagine musical statues, without the music and in a greater playing area. The person who is “het” shouting green light to go and red light to stop, if you were caught moving after red light was shouted, you lost.

6. King Louie / Blue Murder / Hunt The C***

Two teams, one team hunters, one team hunted. The hunted team would decide on a word and split the letters up amongst the members of the team. The hunters would chase and find the opposition team and generally beat the life out of the victims, contestants until they gave up their letter. To win you collect all the letters and guess the word. Many people played it as a sort of tag, in Scotland it was played as life and death.

5. Knuckleys / Snipes

Taking turns using your knuckles, you would strike the other person’s knuckles until you or they quit. As brutal as it sounds. Snipes you used a pack of playing cards to strike the knuckles of the losing player of the card game. There would be pain, there would be blood.

4. Chink / Pitchey

Sort of like bowles but with money, taking it in turns to try get your money closest to the wall, a pitcher throws the first coin, the closer you were the better chance you had of winning. Although if your money hit the coin closest to the wall, and it “chinked” everyone got their money back and the round started again.

3. White Horse / Black Horse

You needed balls of steel for this game, exactly the same as chappie but taking place inside the close of a flat. White Horse you chapped every door on the way down the inside of a flat, and ran for your life. A black horse however, meant either chapping all the doors on the way up the stairs and hiding, or if you were proper mental, you chapped them going up and then going down. Was always a “pal’s cousin” who had actually completed a black horse, and he would say well why don’t you ask him, but he was massive and unstable so you didn’t.

2. Red Rover / British Bulldog

Red Rover, Red Rover, we call Marjorie over

Two teams standing quite far apart would call an opposing member over with the above chant, and the called participant would try and break the chains (linked arms) of the opposing team, succeed and somebody joined your team, fail to break the chain and you would be forced to join the other team.

1. Helicopter

Creating a circle everybody would have to outjump the spinning skipping rope, which would have a rubber ring tied around it, if you were particularly unlucky, the rope would wrap around your ankle and you would be dragged into the middle, that event would be particularly embarrassing in front of the other participants still taking part.